


No Matter of the Heart - Just the Thigh

by OnlyOneWoman



Series: A Simple Man [3]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: "Does this mean we're married?", Black Sails before shit went down, Canon is just an option, Gossipy pirates, I'm never forgetting that one, Intimacy, John Silver is soft in secret, M/M, Matelots, Muldoon is a grumpy sweetheart, Nassau canon time, Pillow Talk, Post-Coital Cuddling, Really they're like high school girls, Silverdoon, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 12:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21253226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyOneWoman/pseuds/OnlyOneWoman
Summary: Pirates gossip worse than anybody. That's just a fact. And I've missed Silver/Muldoon, so yeah, here's part 3 in my very much not canon compliant mess.





	No Matter of the Heart - Just the Thigh

”You lost your necklace?”  
  
Silver’s question was heard by Muldoon, who started to laugh.  
  
“John, Billy’s got more trinklets than a magpie! He’d loose a dozen of them without noticing.”  
  
Billy rose his eyebrows at that, smiling.  
  
“Thanks for telling me, Muldoon. Now I finally know where to look for them.”  
  
It was all in good humor, you didn’t steal from a mate, that just shouldn’t happen and Muldoon knew Billy wasn’t accusing him, but it didn’t stop him from leaning over the barrel on his elbows, peering over with the sun in his eyes.  
  
“You abandoned us last night, Billy.”  
  
Billy scoffed and Silver grinned.  
  
“So, you have nanny now, Muldoon?”  
“Apparantly.”  
“Well, he’s already got a husband…”  
  
Silver gave his matelot a little smile that Muldoon just rolled his eyes at, as always pretending to be unmoved and, also as usual, failing. Billy shook his head. It was a good thing that Silver had gotten close to the gunner. Being a loner by nature, Silver was a man Billy wasn’t sure of. He had too little to gain from merely brotherhood to be trusted in earnest and the gunner was a good influence.  
  
“Why’re you concerned about _his _jewleries, though?”  
  
Or maybe not. Muldoon had crossed his arms now, looking at his matelot with an accusing gaze that had Billy all but burst out laughing. The gunner was known for his even temper but ever since Silver gave him the shits from an undercooked pig, he’d been prone to snap at him and, well, it seemed to have lead to something more.  
  
The quartermaster coughed and gave the gunner one of his more meek smiles, one that didn’t fool neither Billy nor Muldoon one bit, but it still worked for a man in love and Silver stroked back a curl, looking deceptively much like the innocent creature he most certainly wasn’t.  
  
“Well, since I’ve apparantly forgotten about my matelot duties, I guess I have to remedy that… Will you excuse us, Billy? We’re…”  
“…taking to the cargo to fuck, yes, I figured that.”  
  
Billy grinned and watched the so manipulative quartermaster getting reeled in by his gunner and well, they were a tad bit strange couple, but they sure made more sense than Billy and the man he’d left at dawn.  
  
***  
  
“You know who it is?”  
“Who?"  
"Billy’s secret lover!”  
“I do not.”  
  
John was leaning onto his matelot’s frame, showing a weakness he usually didn’t allow himself, but in the post-climax of their coupling, when he was still a bit dazed and floating, Muldoon was quite literally his rock and resting place.  
  
He could feel the hands comb through his hair, a gesture he’d found curious at first, but had not only become used to, but quite appreciate as well. Muldoon didn’t pity him, in fact, he mostly complained about him, from the way John – allegedly – hogged the blankets in their shared bunk, to how he woke him up too early by stomping his peg too heavily.  
  
John liked it though, the harsh, grumpy way Muldoon would show his affection and that hid it from eyes and ears not able to interpret the grunts and huffs. It was such a stark contrast to how he curled up around him now, took him in his arms after a fuck and just wanted to have John close a little longer. The gunner treated him like his equal, not a cripple or some fragile thing – or the scheming little shit he, admittidly, was.  
  
“Really?”  
  
John snickered at his lover’s surprise.  
  
“Just because I know most things happening aboard, I’m not in possession of some magic spyglass covering all of Nassau.”  
“What about the necklace?”  
“Hm?”  
“You said Billy missed a necklace. You really pay that much attention to him?”  
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”  
  
Muldoon snorted.  
  
“Any sensible man is jealous of Billy Bones.”  
  
John just sighed at that, leaning into Muldoon’s chest.  
  
“Well, good thing I’ve never considered myself very sensible then.”  
  
Billy Bones may possess a bigger frame than the gunner, but there were no other arms that had made John feel even the slightest actual comfort in before he’d given into Muldoon’s lingering looks, good spirited nagging and the simple and honest kindness that scared the quartermaster as much as it intrigued him. John kept resting on the sweat glimmering chest, allowing the gunner to be gentle and sweet to him, to make him relax in that way he’d never do outside this narrow space of momentarily privacy.  
  
His stump hurt, it always did, but it was a “bad peg day” as his matelot ridiculously had taken to call John’s more painful days. John lifted the stump, moved it around to increase the blood flow and almost on cue, Muldoon reached for the vial of oil, not for another round of John’s cock, but for the thing John would never ever ask for, only silently accept as long as no one saw and his matelot didn’t speak about it.  
  
“You know, I’m surprised, actually.”  
“About what?”  
“Billy, of course, you cunt.”  
  
John smiled through a groan. He was weak for Muldoon’s bluntness, his insults at all time at anyone, because it felt honest, felt genuine and direct in a way John himself never could act. Muldoon had a brutal tongue and a heart of gold, iron fists and eyes that could go soft without showing pity.  
  
As he purposefully worked through the knots in John’s stump, another kind of heat than the one of their previous coupling, spread through John’s body, numbness decreasing under the painful yet effective treatment.  
  
“And why, matelot, does our big old puppy surprise you? Ouch!”  
  
Muldoon had gone harder on a particularly sore spot and John glared at him, still thankful for the force since it would help his movements later on. He let himself lean back again as Muldoon worked himself upwards, massaging in earnest.  
  
“He’s never been particularly interested before.”  
“In men?”  
“Men, women, boys, girls.”  
“Dairy goats? Ship’s cats? Barnacles?”  
“God, you’re a nasty man sometimes, John. You know that?”  
“I’ve been called worse, my dear.”  
  
It sounded playful, the pet name, but it was no less true. Muldoon was, very much, John’s _dear _and the gunner knew it but John still found a strange pleasure in repeating it, because he knew his grumpy lover liked to hear it.  
  
Finally, the worst knots in John’s thigh loosened up and instead, the gunner turned to comb through his hair, using his fingers and well, John certainly wouldn’t stop him, even if he’d never ever ask for the affection. _This_ matter of the heart was foreign to him, his knowledge shallow as best and often he’d found himself worried he wasn’t giving as much as he received. He’d grown fond of the gunner, quite a lot so, and the thought of not having him, caused John Silver a kind of distress he wasn’t used to harbour.  
  
“I don’t think it’s a molly. Never seen Billy care much for them.”  
“Of course not, there aren’t enough of them here to make it worth the wait.”  
“I didn’t know you needed more men in our bed. I’m starting to feel a little inadequit here, Muldoon.”  
“Fuck you too, John.”  
  
In fact, it was John who did the fucking, an arrangement they both were currently satisfied with even though it often increased the strain on John’s stump. Muldoon’s cursing was as it should be, John thought as he felt the man comb out the tangles and pull them back together in a tail. Harsh words and gentle touches were the man’s trademark and suddenly Silver felt tired.  
  
The thought of leaving their little spot soon and be the man who needed no human crutch or support or friend of any kind, wasn’t an appealing one right now. The sex was good, yes, more than good even, despite the obstacles the damn stump caused, but what John treasured the most with the moments in privacy with his matelot, was this: the affectionate touches, the way Muldoon’s capable hands would roam without causing discomfort.  
  
“John?”  
“Mhm?”  
  
It was ridiculous, how soft he was for the gunner calling him by his given name.  
  
“I’ve known Billy for three years, love, and not once has he_ lost_ a necklace while at shore.”  
“Looks like I was right then. Our magpie has found a mate.”  
“Is there any point in me asking you to not snoop into it?”  
“Of course not.”  
“That’s what I thought. Then perhaps you could let me look after _you _for a while instead?”  
  
Well, it was Muldoon and they were alone and yes, it was actually necessary for a quartermaster to keep on his legs – literally – so it would be considered a mere duty to let the gunner increase the blood flow and get John up and, not running, but at least walking with less difficulty.  
  
And so, John carefully spread his legs, giving his ill-tempered lover access to the spots yet in need of his so very talented fingers. And if the touches and cradling from the gunner had John Silver, the untouchable, melt just a little inside, well, one could always say it wasn’t a matter of the heart, just the thigh.


End file.
